As the NHL eases into another season, here's what I'm wondering about in the Eastern Conference this year.

1. Just how often will Claude Julien let Shea Weber shoot at 5-on-4? Watching Montreal in the pre-season, I was intrigued by Jonathan Drouin setting up to Weber's left in the offensive zone. When the Canadiens acquired Drouin, I assumed he'd play to Weber's right, setting him up well to pass to Weber for one-timers. Instead, we saw Drouin on the other side, as seen in this picture taken from a sequence leading to a Montreal goal in an exhibition game.

This matters because, as great of a shooter as Weber is, you don't want him shooting the puck a lot on your power play. Moving Drouin to the other side of the ice kind of reduces the temptation to have Weber shooting a lot, because the one-timer is available less often.

As I pointed out in a piece for The Athletic Montreal, Weber took a higher percentage of his team's...

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